NHL Pick: Los Angeles Kings at San Jose Sharks

The LA Kings are in San Jose where they take on division rivals the San Jose Sharks. The Sharks are haven’t feared all that well versus the Kings recently losing 5 of the last 6 meetings overall but they have pretty well dominated them at home in San Jose where they have won 36 of the last 52 meetings.

Head to Head Trends

Kings are 16-36 in the last 52 meetings in San Jose.
Home team is 35-17 in the last 52 meetings.

San Jose Sharks (-115)

The San Jose Sharks are 3rd in the Pacific Division with 54 points 11 points back of the 1st place Anaheim Ducks. The Sharks haven’t exactly been having the best season so far they have struggled for most of the season and if it wasn’t for a hot stretch in December where they won 9 of 10 games they wouldn’t even be close to a playoff spot right now. The Sharks are decent on offense averaging 2.7 goals per game but they need to work on their defense a bit allowing 2.8 goals per game.

San Jose Sharks Trends

Sharks are 57-27 in their last 84 home games.
Sharks are 60-27 in their last 87 home games vs. a team with a road winning % of less than .400.

Los Angeles Kings (+105)

The LA Kings are 5th in the Pacific Division 14 points out of 1st place and if the season were to start today they would be out of the playoffs. It seems like the Kings are still in the midst of their Stanley Cup hangover and even though I think they will end up turning things around they are going to have to start doing it soon before it’s too late. The Kings main problem so far this season is they have been absolutely horrible on the road winning just 5 of 19 games. I think it would be a good move to fade the Kings especially on the road until goaltender Jonathan Quick starts playing a lot better because he hasn’t been all that good lately losing his last 7 starts.

LA Kings Trends

Kings are 1-6 in their last 7 overall.
Kings are 1-5 in their last 6 road games.

Conclusion

I’m going with the San Jose Sharks over the Kings in this one. Even though I don’t think the Sharks are all that good it’s really hard not to bet against the Kings on the road the way they have played so far this season.